Winston’s weapon fires a short-range electric barrage for as long as he holds down the trigger.

Details

Video

Jump Pack

Ability

Icon

Stats

Official Description

Damage

1 upon activating Up to 45 upon landing, falloff with distance

Movement speed

20 meters per second

Maximum range

18 - 22 meters

Area of effect

5 meter radius (landing damage)

Cooldown

6 seconds2 seconds during Primal Rage

Headshot

✕

Assisted by his energy pack, Winston lunges through the air, dealing significant damage and staggering nearby enemies when he lands.

Details

Video

Barrier Projector

Ability

Icon

Stats

Official Description

Health

600

Area of effect

5 meter radius

Duration

5 seconds

Cooldown

13 seconds

Winston’s barrier projector extends a bubble-shaped field that absorbs damage until it's destroyed. Allies protected by the barrier can return fire from within it.

Details

Video

Primal Rage

Ultimate Ability

Icon

Stats

Official Description

Type

Melee

Health

+500 health and max health

Damage

40 per swing

Movement speed

7.1 meters per second

Maximum range

4 meter swings

Rate of fire

~1.6 swings per second

Duration

10 seconds

Headshot

✕

Charge required

1375 points

Winston embraces his animal nature, significantly boosting his health and making him very difficult to kill, strengthening his melee attack, and allowing him to use his Jump Pack ability more frequently. While raging, Winston can only make melee and Jump Pack attacks.

Details

Winston passively generates 1% Ult Charge every 2.75 seconds.

Also lowers the cooldown on Jump Pack to 2 seconds.

Resets Jump Pack cooldown on activation.

Video

Strategy

Winston is one of the game's most mobile Tanks, capable of crossing vast distances in a single leap to bring the fight to his enemies. His Tesla Cannon, combined with the agility provided by his Jump Pack, makes him a persistent menace that can easily disrupt any enemy team through constant harassment and the power of his Primal Rage. Much like Reinhardt, however, he is only capable of fighting at short range, and he is not nearly as consistently durable as the other Tanks.

Weapons & Abilities

Tesla Cannon: Winston's primary weapon. The Tesla Cannon causes continual damage in a cone in front of Winston as long as the primary fire button is held down.

The Tesla Cannon automatically targets any enemies who are within the cone. Even evasive targets like Tracer cannot avoid being damaged by Winston so long as they are within range of the Cannon.

The Tesla Cannon has fairly low damage compared to the weapons of other Tanks. It's best not to go head-to-head with other Tanks unless they're already low on Health.

Jump Pack: When activated, Winston performs a massive leap forwards. When he lands, he deals damage to all enemies in a small area and knocks them back.

With Jump Pack, Winston can easily reach distant enemies in a single bound. If your team is being harassed by Widowmaker or Hanzo, don't be afraid to leap onto them and take them out.

Jump Pack will immediately end if Winston collides with a solid object like a box or short wall when first activating Jump Pack. Make sure you have ample distance to vault over obstacles before using Jump Pack.

Once in the air, Winston has a small amount of air control, allowing him to curve around in the air. Use this to both evade enemy fire and to land on certain platforms.

Barrier Projector: When activated, Winston drops a small projector that creates a bubble-shaped barrier, absorbing a certain amount of damage from the enemy team before being destroyed. The bubble is hollow: an enemy inside the bubble can still hit Winston or his allies if they are also inside the bubble. The barrier will disappear automatically after a few seconds.

Barrier Projector does not inherit Winston's momentum. If he drops it while mid air with Jump Pack, it will fall straight downwards.

Winston can "dance" between the edge of the bubble in order to keep himself safe for its duration. When an enemy enters into the bubble, move outside of it so that the enemy has to exit the bubble to attack you. Once they do, move back into the bubble. This lets you deal constant damage while the barrier absorbs most of your enemy's damage.

Primal Rage causes Winston's Health to be immediately refilled to the new, higher value. Use Primal Rage when you're in danger of dying.

The hand swipes from Primal Rage are incredibly disruptive. Use your frequent Jump Packs to leap at enemies and knock them off an objective or into an open pit.

Jump Pack will immediately come off cooldown both when activating Primal Rage and when Primal Rage ends. This guarantees a safe entrance and exit to a skirmish.

General Strategies

Winston is a great Tank for new players. His Tesla Cannon automatically hits any enemies in front of him, minimizing the amount of aiming you need to do, and his Barrier Projector gives both him and his team extra survivability.

Winston is a fantastic counter to mobile enemies like Tracer or Genji. The autohit nature of Tesla Cannon prevents them from dodging the constant stream of damage from Winston, and Barrier Projector gives Winston more than enough Health to deal with them. When up against a good player using Tracer or Genji, consider switching to Winston.

Winston excels at bypassing chokepoints and attacking control points. He can force a defending team to fall back and defend the objective, allowing your team to pass through the chokepoint. Use Winston when you need to be able to get into an enemy's backline and break them up.

Barrier Projector is weaker than Reinhardt'sBarrier Field, though still capable of absorbing a good amount of damage. When it comes to guarding a chokepoint or an objective, Reinhardt is the better pick.

Don't stay in one place as Winston, as he's squishier than he seems. Use Jump Pack to constantly engage and disengage, retreating when you get low on Health. Memorize the location of large Health Packs, as this will help you get back to fighting more quickly.

Primal Rage is best used in cases where you need to force an enemy team away from a position. If they've heavily entrenched themselves in an area, use Primal Rage to knock them back so that your team has an opportunity to move in. Remember that you gain a massive heal when Primal Rage is used, so try to delay using it until you are low on Health to maximize the amount of time you spend in the fight.

Although Winston may seem as an easy class to play, he is quite difficult to master. Winston can be eliminated rather quickly if he jumps into a new area headfirst without teammates. Consider sticking with teammates and launching at solo targets like Widowmaker, Genji, Tracer etc.

Mechanics

Using melee attacks to repeatedly interrupt the tesla cannon fire does the same damage per second as simply firing the weapon. When attacking a single target this technique is optimal, because it conserves ammunition and is more efficient against armored targets. The risk is that Winston needs to get closer to his target than he would usually have to, potentially making him miss out on damage if he loses track of his target.

After using the Jump Pack, a standard melee attack right before landing will cancel the melee animation while the damage of the attack is still applied. While the visual animation of the melee is cancelled, Winston can still not use his tesla cannon until 0.5 seconds after he used the melee attack. This makes using melee right before landing no more or less efficient than interrupting the tesla cannon with melee attacks while grounded.

To perform particularly short jumps with the Jump Pack, look straight ahead and press and hold backwards right before using the ability. To jump straight up, look straight up and press and hold backwards right before jumping.

Story

"Imagination Is The Essence Of Discovery."

A super-intelligent, genetically engineered gorilla, Winston is a brilliant scientist and a champion for humanity's potential.[2] Since a young age, he has shown limitless curiosity for the world around him, but also has a fondness for stories, especially those passed down from generation to generation.[3] By his own admission, he tends to overthink things, is a perfectionist, and tends to ramble.[4] As an ape among humans, he gets regular remarks on this subject, including references to old video games.[5]

When Winston loses his temper, Winston becomes a raging ape. In his off-time, he enjoys peanut butter and bananas.[6] He has stated/joked that his love of the former is due to his genetic therapy.[5]

Pre-Overwatch

“

Ah. The Moon. I grew up there. Looking down at the Earth. Dreaming of what life would be like. I loved my time there. The scientists were my family. I learned so much from them. I had so many great memories. We were building together to build humanity's future amongst the stars. And of course, Doctor Winston. He was like a father to me. It was home. But it wasn't to be. Not everyone liked life on the moon. Of tests. And the rules. The others hatched a plan. No more injections. No more experiments. Then the doctors, my friends...they were all gone. There was nothing left for me. I couldn't stay, and they didn't want me anyways. So I escaped to Earth. My new home. But they're still up there. And someday, we'll have to go back.

„

~ Winston, reflecting on his life on Horizon

Winston as an infant

The Horizon Lunar Colony was established as a first step for humanity's renewed exploration of space. Among its residents was a group of genetically enhanced gorillas that were intended to test the effects of prolonged habitation in space.[2]

One gorilla, designated Specimen 28,[7] displayed such rapid brain development from the gene therapy that he was taken under the wing of Dr. Harold Winston, who taught him science and inspired him with tales of human ingenuity.[2] One day, after the young ape had stolen Harold's glasses, Harold showed the ape Earth just as they were over Africa, as it appeared from the moon[8] (prior to this, the ape had only seen the barren moonscape).[9] Harold told him to not see the world how it was, but how it could be.[8]

The young gorilla passed his days assisting with the scientists' experiments, watching the distant blue world outside his habitat window, dreaming of the endless possibilities that awaited him there.[2] He enjoyed life at Horizon, and regarded the human scientists as his family, and Dr.Winston his father.[10] Lexigrams were used as part of his education process,[11] and one day on Lunar New Year, Winston challenged the young ape to read Journey to the West. The gorilla's imagination was captured by the heroic monk Tang Sanzang and his ragtag group of disciples' quest for redemption. As a result, the ape was reminded of his younger days every Lunar New Year; Dr Winston telling him the story remained one of his most treasured memories.[3]

Winston becomes a member of Overwatch

But his life was thrown into chaos when the other gorillas led an uprising, killed the mission scientists, and claimed the colony for their own.[2] With nothing left, and unwanted by his fellow gorillas,[10] the ape took on the name of his beloved human caretaker. So named "Winston," the ape built a makeshift rocket and escaped to Earth. There he found a new home with Overwatch, an organization that represented everything he had come to admire about humanity. Winston was finally able to live up to the heroic ideal that had been instilled in him.[2] However, he knew that one day, he would have to return to his former home.[10]

Overwatch

Tracer

Winston designs the chronal accelerator

Winston was also responsible for designing the chronal accelerator, providing a solution to Tracer's chronal disassociation.[12] Winston would watch over Tracer's training at the Overwatch Headquarters, with the help of Dr. Ziegler, and believed that if she showed no signs of trouble, she would be ready for active duty.[13]

Doomfist

“

Primal punch! Gorilla from the moon saves the day!

„

~ A newspaper headline on Winston's defeat of Doomfist

Winston, just prior to charging Doomfist

Alongside Overwatch agents Genji and Tracer, Winston fought Doomfist. Winston initially tried to defeat Doomfist using his tesla cannon, but was ineffective, and he was sent hurtling. He eventually came to his feet, but not before Tracer and Genji had been incapacitated. Unleashing his primal rage, Winston charged Doomfist directly, and engaged him in close quarters.[14] Winston defeated Doomfist,[15] who was imprisoned. A newspaper article of the time coined the phrase "primal punch" (even though Winston didn't appear to have actually said that) when reporting on the event.[14] Years after the event, this catchphrase remained associated with Winston's actions.[15]

Post-Overwatch

After the fall of Overwatch, Winston again went into seclusion, once again cut off from the world he believed in, but longing for the days of heroism to return.[2]

Recall

While in his lab at Watchpoint: Gibraltar, pondering once again whether he should give Overwatch agents a recall order, the base came under attack by Talon operatives led by Reaper. With Winston distracted by Talon, Reaper infected his computer with a virus and attempted to download the Overwatch agent database, which would give the current location of any agent. Winston managed to best the operatives and Reaper, stop the download and quarantine the virus at the last moment. After the close call and restoring the system, he made his decision and initiated the recall. When Tracer received the signal she immediately called Winston, delighted to hear from him.[8]

Are You With Us?

With the intent of reforming Overwatch, Winston prepared a speech to try and get its former agents to come back to the organization. After spending most of his day trying and failing to deliver it, Winston delivered the frank truth that while the world had turned against them, the state of the world showed the need for Overwatch to return.[4] Set to repeat on the Overwatch emergency frequency, the signal (though weak) reached Ecopoint: Antarctica despite being cut off from satellite communications, and automatically brought Mei out of cryostasis.[16]

Day at the Museum

"Alright, playtime's over. Get to cover."

Winston back in action

Sometime later, Winston got back in action when Reaper and Widowmaker attempted to retrieve Doomfist's gauntlet. Teaming up with Tracer however, he was able to stop the heist, and engaged in pursuit of the villains.[15]

Return to Gibraltar

As part of his intent to reform Overwatch, Winston returned to Watchpoint: Gibraltar, an old Overwatch outpost that had once stood guard over the Mediterranean. He intended to launch a satellite drone in an effort to restore Overwatch's communications network.[17]

Reflections

“

Holidays are supposed to be a time for friends and family. But I'm short on both now. Still... I can't help but wonder how everyones's doing...

„

~ Winston

During the holiday season after Overwatch's recall, Winston invited Tracer to dinner with him in Gibraltar. Believing that Tracer had missed their gathering, Winston told Athena that they were likely alone again for Christmas. Athena sarcastically began "party mode," causing Winston to chuckle. He then reminisced over a photo of a young him and Dr. Harold Winston, and wondered how everyone else was spending the holidays. Before Winston began eating, Tracer arrived with her girlfriend Emily. Tracer endearingly apologized to Winston, calling him "big guy," before the three of them embraced in a hug. The three then began celebrating the holidays over a special meal.[19]

Trivia

Winston was one of the hardest characters to animate due to the numerous armor pieces he wears. His rage mode also presented problems due to the changes in movement animation.[21] His design was "top-down" (where developers start with story/art/flavor elements and develop abilities around those ideas afterwards).[22]

Tools

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